Day 139 of 365

In October 2017, I was 16, I and my friend went out for a few drinks it was a long walk home so we decided to take a cab back from the pub. My friend was really drunk and fell asleep in the back of the cab while I was in the front, there was something about the driver, he made me feel really uncomfortable asking questions including do you have a boyfriend and how long have you been together.

We didn’t speak for the rest of the journey, he took a wrong turn I think on purpose and I said to him I will get out here it’s fine I will walk the rest how much do I owe you, he said don’t baby everything will be fine. We carried on the journey he decided to pull over and light a cigarette, I told him it was getting late and asked when we could leave.

He got back into the car and started driving again he then touched my thigh and was rubbing my leg I told him I was 16 and he said don’t worry babe it doesn’t matter age is just a number, I told him I felt uncomfortable, it made him angry he started shouting abuse and rude comments at me I threw some money at him and he grabbed my arm, he locked the doors and told me to shut up and that I was being rude. He pushed me down I tried to get up he told me to stop or it will be worst for me. I carried on fighting until I lost all power in me and went weak, I tried to reach for the door handle , he put something on my gum, I still don’t know the substance as it is an ongoing investigation , he told me to stop and held me down, everything went black. I woke up he had his hands down my trousers and was groping my breasts, I tried to push him down and screamed and he covered my mouth. He pulled down my trousers and was trying to pull down his at the same time I told him NO!

He then put his hands up my vagina and was holding me down. I went silent I lost all the power in me, tears were streaming down my face. I then kicked him in the face and quickly unlocked the door, I shouted and grabbed my friend who was in the back seat and we ran out the cab. He drove off very quickly, I called the police they come round with 3 officers within about 5 minutes. The worst bit wasn’t the sleepless nights or the flashback it was having to tell my dad what had happened.